Npc travellers!

We all know that there is a slim, if not greater, berth of travel between the cities. Not ALL of this is done by PCs, and I think it would be neat if every now and then youd see a wagon or band of npcs pass by.

THIS WOULD BE GREAT!

Did I mention this would be great?

This would add such life and fun for people that dont spend all their time sitting in the bars waiting for action to engulf them.

I mean the raider and bandit roles would sky-rocket, waiting on that bluff for a long awaited caravan to pass before riding down on your speed-bred erdlus for a quick run.

Or imagine being travelling and you see some gith raiding a poor family in their rickety cart. You could join in to save them, or take the chance to circle around while the attackers are distracted.

Even short term travel progs would be nice. Like a wagon from one of those farms to the city, or a group on kank-back or something.

Anyways, I think this would be nice, and add something to life outside the walls besides just dying or waiting to die. heh.

Jenred :shock:

[Lazloth]

Write it up.

Write what up?...... *is confused*

[Plazgoth]

I think he means write up the NPCs. Or wagon or whatever you wish to see out in the desert. There a guidelines for submitting things to the account. The only thing the staff will have to do, if you submitt all the other things of course, is put a script on the NPC to make it move in between wherever they please.

[Sanvean]

In some ways, I like this idea very much. It's along the lines of Brix's morning devotions templar, and could be used to add atmosphere to the game.

That said, I wouldn't want it to be too predictable. The saving the family from the gith, for instance, would get repetitive. "Hey, it's Nekrete! Time to go save that family!"  

Wagons trundling along the North Road, though, might be okay, or caravans from one place to another. We'd need to anticipate how they'd react to attacks, and figure out how to script it so an attack wouldn't result in a bunch of npcs standing there gawping until more gith came and mowed them down.

So would it be a waste of time to start writing up possible NPCs, their
clothing, and wagon or what not? Or will this most likely be something just looked over as it would be difficult to script (i.e. predictable redundancy, eventually either cycling through npcs, etc.)

Just another side note too, maybe make them very generic... like a man in a hooded cloak. I know oocly people -know- they are killing the same NPC in the Rinth, or in the northlands where there are certain things in certain places. But the characters should percieve them as a new person.

Jenred :shock:

[Plazgoth]

I like the idea of having the roads more populated. Maybe the best thing to do is add room echoes, kind of like in the grey forest. I don't think it is necessary to have actual NPCs that you can kill moving along the road. Maybe some sort of roaming echo, that goes from room to room. That way you won't have players choosing to play the bandit type for the mere reason that they have an NPC to kill.

Just my two sid.

[Vendyra]

Maybe the best thing to do is add room echoes, kind of like in the grey forest.

I'm going to agree with Plazgoth on this one.  Scripts that echo to the room aren't too complicated to work, but they still get your point across.  If a player is interested in trying to hop a ride on a caravan they see careening by, they could probably wish up saying they were trying to flag it down.  Just like a staff member can take over a soldier for you, it seems to me like a reasonable request to try and hitch a ride with a crew, whether it be friendly or less amiable.

Even still, maybe the staff can arrange to have a wagon travel every once and a while.  It's plausible and moderately easy to set up.  Just a note for all those players out there with access to wagons: an easy way to get some side-cash is to try and offer rides in it.  Never forget that the T'zai Byn is always a trustworthy method to get to your destination, if you don't mind riding a giant ant.

[John]

I don't think these wagons should go on a regular or predictable basis. Maybe set up a couple between various locations and have them on set routes for once every 93 IC days, or some other random number that isn't predictable. That way the streets don't suddenly become over populated, because nothing survives out there for long, what with all the PCs, NPCs and VNPCs.

Perhaps when an Imm isn't busy, they suddenly have animate a caravan. They have a couple of the guards go to the Gaj and talk about how in a day or two they have to go to so-and-so. Might have a trader go to Traders and say as much. This gives a chance for raiders to go raid, PCs to catch a lift, etc.

These random caravans, could also let NPC traders travel. An Imm notices a caravan is going to Red Storm, they animate a merchant long enough to get him to hitch a ride from Allanak, and walla, you got a new merchant selling new things in Red Storm.

Would have to be careful or else one place will be empty of merchants and one will be overflowing.

[Wintermute]

Is it just me, or do aggressive mobs no longer enter wagons?  Granted, I haven't been in a wagon for ages, but they used to.  Like, all the time.  You'd be trundling along and be picking up hitchhikers left and right.  Granted, they were more wanting to cut your head off than just merely hitch a ride, but still.

I've been noticing a lot of wagons come and go as they please, without much guarding action going on.  I dunno, maybe they've got legions stuck inside their holds, but it seems to me that the relative safety's made people with wagons lax.

Since raiders can't actually codewise surround a wagon, attack it, set fire to it, what have you, having them board is probably the next best thing.  What about the gith?  They seem plenty happy to attack large groups of people in large groups of their own - why not go for a wagon, a veritable rolling treasure horde!

At the least, it'd give the Byn something to do.   :lol:

[Plazgoth]

I think if there was a need for more caravans IC it will happen IC. If Jimmy the Slimy merchant wants to use his waggon to make some side cash he could. Why make yet another task the staff has to perform, that can be easily done by someone IC. In fact, I am going to shut up because I think a really good character concept is comming from this thread and I might want to use it.

I still want to encourage the room echoes.  They would not require maintanence. Or maybe some wagon objects, but not ones you can really enter, just have them there for the flavor.

Well it just seems everyone is stifled up in bars or compounds, unless they are a merchant, or going on 'desert training' a concept which seems to have carried over to every clan as a way to go outside and kill things.

Those who chose to travel, and do something that Im sure Id want to do to get away from such a place like Allanak- seeing the world, are pretty hard up for any way to do it.

It would seem realistic for some John Doe (t.v. plug) to go up and ask some noble if they could hitch a ride on their next trip. Even more weird for them to have the sid to hire out a company of mercenaries.

What DOES seem plausible is some lesser known merchant, (probably lotsa VNPC lesser known merchants, like all those in the descriptions at the bazaar, and in the commoners quarter, etc.) going out on their spindly little wagon for supplies in a well-known trade outpost, and seeing this guy waiting near the gates looking around innocently.

He'd see the wagon and call out for a ride, and the nice old merchant would accept him as company, maybe protection, or even in a secret plot to have his burly wife beat him over the head with a rock to steal his cash.

Maybe the guy decided to walk some, but saw a small encampment of gith down the road, so backtracked and soon saw the wagon.

Lotsa different situations and stuff...
So I dont think that it should be dominated by PCs. I would quote the phrase from the post above me, but I dont feel like opening an new window and all that.

Anyways...
Jenred :shock:

Someone said that the imms shouldn't have to do it, since it could be done IC. I have tried to get wagons a couple times before and its not easy and still needs imm involvement to get a new wagon usually as far as I know.

. Anyway I would think it was awesome if there was HEAVILY guarded NPC wagon trains. Not often, I would say once per RL month. Maybe the imms could pick a random route for that month as well. If they perhaps advertises a RL day before it left to give people time to see if they wanted to hitch a ride and raiders time to get their raiders ready if they dare risk it. I think they should at least try it once or twice and see if its worthwhile.

[HaiWolfe]

Maybe the best thing to do is add room echoes, kind of like in the grey forest.

I'm going to agree with Plazgoth on this one.  Scripts that echo to the room aren't too complicated to work, but they still get your point across.

What are the guidelines for writing up room echoes, and where should the echoes be submitted?

[God]

Perhaps these traveling merchants would even hire mercenaries regularly, providing some interesting work for us T'zai Byn.

[Anonymous]

I think if there was a need for more caravans IC it will happen IC. If Jimmy the Slimy merchant wants to use his waggon to make some side cash he could. Why make yet another task the staff has to perform, that can be easily done by someone IC. In fact, I am going to shut up because I think a really good character concept is comming from this thread and I might want to use it.

I still want to encourage the room echoes.  They would not require maintanence. Or maybe some wagon objects, but not ones you can really enter, just have them there for the flavor.

Maybe I'm just a complete n00b when it comes to earning sid, but I've known a grand total of  0 private merchants who got to the point where they owned their own wagon.

That's why I'd disagree about whether or not caravans not popping up ICly is an indicator of need or not.

I'm not necessarily saying that there is a tremendous need, just that its hard to know when so few out of the populace have ever owned their wagon.  (All of the wagons I've ever been around were owned by the merchant or noble house they worked for.

Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2002 9:35 pm    Post subject: Npc travellers!

Kinda scary when all of a sudden a post from last year pops up... kinda forgot the string of thought on it.  :shock:

[gfair]

How about an NPC wagon that only goes North when there are PCs in it? Thus, it could be a perilous and risky trip if you didn't have a sufficient guard, and the rewards could be equally significant.  It would leave after a set time on a set day of the week, and go the Nak>Luirs>Tuluk route, if possible.

Perhaps the wagon could be owned by the T'Zai Byn officially, would require a fee to be paid for the use of the wagon, and Bynners could be hired to guard the wagon on its trips.

Along the trip, any number of groups could, or might not assail the wagon.  Sufficiently random, you would never know what, just that the trip is extremely dangerous, and only rarely have previous travellers reported an incident-free trip.

Well then the problem with it being owned by an orginization is they probably WOULDNT let it go if it wasnt sufficiently guarded because of the risk of losing the wagon... and well their lives. (Which are probably cheaper then the wagon. but I digress)

But that is a good idea, a wagon that is MODESTLY guarded for normal trips back and forth from maybe Luirs to the South. (No southern would probably be welcomed in the North... with a pretty wagon.) Then of course private guards can be brought as well. And then if its owned by the Byn they could possibly add extra guards if its an interesting person going...

Anyways, thats all :mrgreen:

[DrunkenSalarr]

And don't forget about all the not-quite-legal stuff you could involve the wagon in.  Like them Damn Tuluki, or a raider group (not much better), taking over the wagon, stripping the guard and putting on there clothes for a nice little escort of wild animals/kamakazi-trained slaves right into 'Nak.

Hmm, this wagon thing is sounding better and better already.

Drunken Salarr, who remembers when the Byn did do scheduled escorted trips to Luirs and Tuluk (and even the rare one down to RS).

Yeah I forgot they are now Northern based too... but still a wagon load of Southerners heading straight into the belly of Communist China... err I mean New Tuluk, might be a bad idea, byn or not. Would be fun to set fire to it and drive it a high speed into the Sanctuary though.

[crymerci]

It doesn't seem like anyone drives their wagons around openly, except for the gypsies, and I don't think they take hitchhikers. It would be nice if Salarr, Kadius, or Nenyuk made trips every once in awhile. They could let people ride on the boarding platform - I mean, after all they would be an extra buffer between boarding raiders and the door, right? They could probably even charge for it, and charge even more for any soft city-folk who eanted the extra safety of riding inside.

Ysania, I think its safe to speak of here now... well anyways when she was around Allanak she used to take paying customers back to the North. I think it was Kadius's wagon... seemed nice. Met alot of interesting people that way, going into the quiet of the peaceful north.

Yeah, Ysania did have pick up people from time to time. From commoners to Templarate though, everyone was out on the boarding platform ;->